Newspaper reporter working on story about old TVs, new TVs and planned obsolescence

Hey there... My name is Charles Passy and I'm a feature writer for the Palm Beach Post in West Palm Beach, Fl.

I'm doing a story about, well, my TV -- a 25-inch Sharp Linytron console TV that I purchased in 1986 (for the then pricey sum of $399) and that has continued to serve me well through today. Great picture, only has broken down once, the thing is a rock.

But I recently succumbed to the lure of new technology and bought a 50-inch plasma. I can't bear the thought of departing with my beloved Sharp.

All this has got me thinking why a TV can last 21 years and still have a great picture while so many other consumer electronics products I've purchased have died within years, if not months! Is this what they call planned obsolesence? Or did I just get lucky with my Sharp? Or were those Linytrons really known to be amazing TVs? (From what I read on a message board here, they're not supposed to be all that great, actually.)

In any case, I'm looking to interview electronics fanatics, old TV fanatics or just anyone with an old TV who might have a similar story to tell. If you can enlighten me as to why old TVs (or old electronics in general) might be better, I'd really be grateful. (Or if you can explain how I just got lucky, so be it). So far as I can tell, audiokarma is about the only site where these kind of matters are discussed.

If you'd like to talk, feel free to email me at my work address ([email protected]) or call me at (561) 820-4589. I'd enjoy hearing from folks.

If you'd just like to sound off on this message board, I'm also glad to hear any thoughts, but since I'm not much of a technophile, I'd love to do a few phone interviews.

Thanks!

[grumpy]

Posting this message on the board 5 times will not get you 5 times the responses. Please do not do that again...

[clydeselsor]

Originally Posted by grumpy

Posting this message on the board 5 times will not get you 5 times the responses. Please do not do that again...

I was wondering what the hell was going on!

Just figured I might be dealing with different audiences for TV and audio and general matters. No harm intended. My apologies.

[radiotvnut]

In my house; we have two '94 13" Sharp TV's, a mid '80's Sony 19" TV, a 13" '86 KTV with rotary tuner, and a '76 19" Zenith Chromacolor II with rotary tuner. All of these are in working order and I plan to use them as long as they can be repaired. When analog TV gets cut off; I'll obtain some converter boxes and go right on. I collect old radio's and TV's as a hobby and, for the most part, find the older products superior to the new junk. I'm currently trying to restore a 25" '74 Zenith space command color console TV. The chassis (25EC58) in that monster is made of steel with a great deal of point-to-point wiring (similar to the old tube type sets). What circuit boards are used are actually small plug in modules that plug in the top of the main chassis. There is actually not much wrong with the set (just need to find the time to get back on it). OTOH, the newer imported garbage is built on a cheap printed circuit board with cheap "under rated" parts, and, often poor soldering. In many cases, these newer sets are not meant for repair. If they die under warranty, you may be able to get it replaced or repaired through the manufacturer. If the warranty expires, forget it! I've heard several horror stories about people purchasing expensive ($1K+) TV's just to find out that parts are not available when the set dies after a year or two. Many of the older sets are easier to find parts for because the components used in the older sets are more generic in nature. The newer sets use more speciallized parts that are designed for a particular chassis. It goes without saying that I'm not one to buy the most modern TV because of it's "looks" or because the industry says it's the "latest" technology. I'm sure my older sets will still be going when the majority of LCD, DLP, Plasma, or "whatever" is in the dump.

[Carmine]

May I first comment on a pet peeve? I'm hoping that since you are a writer, maybe you & I can help stomp out the incorrect usage of the term...

Planned Obsolesence does NOT mean "planned lifespan", or that a part is designed to fail after a certain time period. It means that after a few years, you'll be "shamed" into buying a new model. Most often, it is applied to automobiles, but to a degree it holds true for any consumer product. When automobiles improved to the point of NOT wearing-out fast enough to force consumers to buy another, (1930s), styling became the motivator for a purchase.

As to the TV sets...

I have some "modern" sets like a 70s & 90s Zenith* simply because the color picture rendered is superior (if admittedly smaller) to what I've seen on LCD/Plasma/etc sets. Beyond a certain size, the picture just looks like garbage no matter what the format is. I won't trade off picture quality for size, but I acknowledge that puts me in the minority. I also refuse to support a slave-labor economy or communist state, so that effectively puts me out of the new TV market.

I have the older (40s/50s/60s) sets because I appreciate the craftsmanship, and visual beauty involved in their build. I also enjoy the challenge of squeezing every last bit of picture quality out of them that I can.

*For the "TV novice", you should know that as highly regarded as Zenith products were from the early 20s to late 80s, they turned into pure sh&t around 1993. So don't take my statement to mean "they were all good".

[Telecolor 3007]

Edit: wrong post!

[EchoWars]

Short -n- sweet.

1. Made in China (to a price-point). Not necessarily 'planned' obsolescence, but poorly made to begin with. Engineers who design things are, in general, pretty proud of their work, and would like to see it last. The actual execution of that design, however, is rarely what the engineer had in mind.

2. Complexity. Simple designs = longevity. Complex designs = more things to go wrong.

[John in MA]

The state of consumer electronics and manufacturing in general has gone down the tubes, basically. The industry has gotten into the mode of companies trying to undercut each other in pricing rather than come out with quality products. The dramatic rise of importers bringing in loads of off-brand Chinese junk (as opposed to name-brand Chinese junk--it's nearly all made in China now) without any concern other than failing out of warranty asn't helped. You can take a look at almost any newer electronic unit and see where corners have been cut.

Consumers seem to be playing along, I regularly hear people talking about how they only need their TV or washing machine to last a couple years as long as it's cheap in the first place. I was actually in Sears a couple years ago and the salesman told me their $40 DVD player would only last a couple months--he was right, by the way.

Along with reductions in cost, the higher tech of today's electronics require the use of lots of integrated circuit packages and robot-assembled parts. These rarely can be repaired at all, and replacement parts are usually sold only as large assemblies. Whether it's intentionally or not they often cost more than the entire device.

Something else you don't hear talked about a lot is the actual manufacturing process. EU laws banned lead, so now most electronics are made with lead-free solder. It doesn't hold up well and can't be easily repaired.

[simplynuts]

I have a 20 inch Toshiba built in 1986 that only needed a fuse aand is still going strong. I also have a 32 inch sony built in 1987 that had a manufacturing defect that I was told by an old time tv repairman that it was worth fixing for $128. It would go on for another twenty years he said. he couldn't find the board it needed so he rebuilt i9t down to the board replacing surface mount chips etc. I have a dlp projector that i am happy with, but still like the old crt's better. My two teenage sons also agree when we look at tv's in the stores. Today's electronics are throwaways because they are designed not to last or not cheap to repair. We live in a throwaway society. i picked up a sony mini component system that someone tossed because a disc was stuck inside. I find that to reduce costs many circuits rely on one another where there were beefier power supplies heftier components and discrete circuits. One part blows and takes the whole board with it. I have an older cd player that no one wanted becuase it was old, but it was still going strong when many newer units broke within a year.Many of the members like the older stereo equipment for the same reason.

[simplynuts]

Ever notice the wording on your new toys Remember when they thanked you for your purchase and how it would give you years of enjoyment? I had a product that once wrote hours of enjoyment for an electronic device rather than years.

[Arkay]

I recently bought a new TV. Not a big-screen plasma type, but the top-of-the-line Bang & Olufsen from about twelve years ago. Why did I do this? Several reasons:

(1) A reasonably big screen (approx. 30 "), even if not as big as the newest flat screens. When I want to watch really BIG screen TV, I use a projector, whose projected image exceeds the size of any flat screen by a couple of feet.
(2) A great picture quality: colors look accurate and rich, and it is pleasant to watch.
(3) A surprisingly good sound from a TV (although I usually listen through a home-theater system)
(4) Very good, solid build quality. This TV with its metal frame weighs 102 pounds, and barring accidents should last for several decades with only occasional preventive maintenance or repairs.
(5) If and when repairs are needed, they can be done by me or any technically capable person, at home, relatively easily and for low cost. Good design makes it a relatively easy TV to work on.
(6) Longevity. I see more and more flat-screen televisions being scrapped, even though they are only a few years old. I conservatively expect the B&O to last around 30, perhaps 40 years. The screens on flat-panel TVs have much shorter lifespans than CRT tubes, typicallly around ten years, as opposed to 30-40 years. When the screens on flat-panels start to go bad, most of the time they are irrepairable, and then the entire TV must be scrapped.
(7) My TV is an almost iconic design "classic" that will always find a market not only as a television, but as a decorative item of modern (or gradually retro-modern) decor.
(8) I paid only US$100 for this TV, used. Amortized over a decade or two or three, my television is so cheap it approaches being free. Compare that with the prices of the new flat-screen televisions, especially when you figure that you'd buy several of them over the lifespan of the B&O (or similar CRT-type) TV.

I'm not against the new flat-screens at all. I just think I got much better value buying what I did. The money I saved is buying me more vintage audio gear. Unlike TVs, where there are trade-offs and in several ways (most notably screen size) the newer models are better than older ones, with audio gear there is little question that the older gear is actually better than all but perhaps the most expensive new stuff.

[Elfasto]

I still have and use a 1989 RCA Colortrack 2000 console Television. I think it was one of the first RCA models to have a S-Video input. After doing a tune-up on the guns (Focus in the corners, sharpness, etc) it still has a picture that will keep up to a new CRT, and in some cases blows it away. The stereo amplifier isn't a powerhouse, but the preamp line outs are excellent.

I've looked at new Televisions, but so far they just don't seem to turn my crank so to speak. The one's that did it for me cost $4K +, which is kinda ridiculous.

I agree with another poster that we live in a disposable society, and it kinda makes me sick. Nothing today seems to have any value, since it's cheaper to buy another than have your existing (put your product here) repaired, unless you have a antique radio from the 1930's, or a Integrated Amp or Receiver built in the 70's to late 80's. New audio and video (with exceptions) are piss-poorly made, look cheap, feel cheap, and they don't last.

Gimme a sunbeam toaster made in 1969 anyday!

[compucat]

Look back at what television and radio were to most people years ago. They were treasured household posessions that connected us to the world at large, brought the family together (when there was only one tv in the house) and was an integral part of the home decor. Today's sets are mere appliances. They have no asthetic quality. They are all black or silver boxes. There are no more wood cabinets in various furniture styles. The craftsmanship that inspires pride in design and build has been replaced by automated assembly.

Look also at how television sets were advertised. In the '50s through '70s, cabinet beauty, reliability and often ease of service were considered selling points. Sets were advertised in all sorts of mainstream periodicals and reliability and longevity are often the only key points depicted in the ads. People bought sets based on the need for fewer repairs, build quality and brand reputation. Today purchase decisions are based on two factors, price and screen size. Who makes it, how it's built, cabinet style, reliability are seldom considered.

I have found that when properly restored, my vintage tv and radio sets will outlive anything made today. A tube table radio from 1947 is better built, simpler to service and requires fewer repairs compared to a fancy digital table radio. For example, the much lauded CC radio is known for having problems with button and display failures. A display failure on an antique radio means you just have to replace a dial light.

It is true that a tube tv will need more frequent servicing than a modern solid state set. The real difference, however, is that the modern sets suffer from a lack of available parts. They are just not expected to be serviced, therefore parts support is minimal at best. The generic, descrete components in tube tv sets makes them far more serviceable over the long run. I expect to be able to keep my 1965 21" Zenith round tube color console working for at least another twenty to thirty years. That may seem overly optimistic but I believe it is possible.

Today's sets could be made just well and just as serviceable as sets of yesteryear but there is no profit in it and that level of pride in workmanship no longer exists.

[Sandy G]

Well said, Compucat !